Thought Crime Overturned
Five Muslim men have been freed on appeal following the quashing of their conviction:
The convictions of five young Muslim men jailed over extremist literature have been quashed by the Appeal Court.
Freeing the men, the Lord Chief Justice said their convictions for downloading extremist propaganda were unsafe as there was no proof of terrorist intent.
Good. Quite right, too. The idea of convicting someone for downloading “extremist” material is abhorrent. Who decides, after all, what is or is not “extremist”? Doubtless the government of the day will decide depending on just who has been a sufficient nuisance. Given that even upsetting the Scientologists means that one can be labelled a terrorist these days, the Lord Chief Justice’s decision in this case is a welcome one.
The lawyer for one said they had been jailed for a “thought crime”.
Indeed. That what they were thinking may be repugnant to most of us is neither here nor there; thinking nasty things should not lead to a criminal conviction.
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